Your link took me to an information page for the blog. Clicking on the stacked horizontal lines (menu) at the top left opens more choices across the top of the page. That's how one gets to the McMansion stuff. Most people probably know what the stacked lines mean, but I feel it is important to plainly state it.

Thank you, tangerinedoor, for the link. The author, Kate Wagner, provides good examples of bad architecture. She also provides information on styles that can work together.

I recommend readers look further into architectural styles. For instance, Stick-style architecture originally referred to exterior boards that mimicked integral Tudor bracing as in the John Griswold House. In Victorian Stick-style the vertical and horizontal framework became artful as in the Herman C. Timm House.

Yes, mindshift, it took me some time to find the stacked lines and what they offered!

informative.I know them when I see them, but often am stymied to define exactly what the myriad of aesthetic problems are.

Yes, Ms. Wagner is hilarious and makes a lot of good points regarding architecture.

She sometimes devolves into politics, which is irrelevant when discussing home design. No political party has cornered the market on bad design.

McMansion Hell is well known here, and frequently quoted.

Thank you!

There are 2 houses near (but not visually near) where my DH and I have a lot to build upon. Both have been for sale for 2+ yrs. Both fit these descriptions. Both are designed/built by the same person. I've often wondered why anyone would build a brick house with 'stone pieces' stuck to it like bubble-gum (my DH's description) . They both have turrets, large rooflines, very tall columns in front, 1 exterior door that I call a Hobbit door, and the rooms inside are 'off' (like a narrow wall that covers the back of the toilet but leaves the seat exposed to the room, or a fireplace in a corner, or pendant lights over nothing off-center in the turret....etc.). I reminds me of a comment I read on a Houzz post 'Bubba wanted it so Bubba built it.' I appreciate this post - it was interesting to see how these types of homes came about and why. Although I still don't get the brick with pieces of stone idea....